Cooking

I love cooking. I don’t necessarily enjoy eating, but I love cooking. Maybe it’s an art thing, taking a hodgepodge of ingredients and turning them into something tasty. Or maybe it’s a dessert thing, because I do love all things sweet. Or maybe it’s a shopping thing!

It is a shopaholic’s dream kitting out a well-equipped kitchen. My favourite purchases to date are my Le Creuset pans. Trust me when I say that as expensive as they may seem, they are worth every penny and will last a very long time. Foods cook evenly over moderately low temperatures and taste more vibrant. Ratatouille cooked in my shallow casserole tasted delicious as a whole, but I was amazed at how the individual flavour of each vegetable stood out without being overwhelming. Roasted chickens cook to perfection in my oval roaster, and various soup and gratin dishes have graced my French ovens.

Like toast? Well, don’t settle for a cheap toaster you’ll only end up replacing every few years. Go right for the professional choice and get a Dualit toaster. Made in Great Britain, these guys are built tough to handle all the bread you can throw at them. Get a Vario model with sandwich cages and lunch will become super-easy. A little butter, some sliced deli meat if you like, a bit of cheese, and in just a few minutes the Dualit will present you with a golden toasty sandwich.

You may think rice cookers are frivolous, but if you enjoy rice and eat it often you really should invest in one of these time-savers. At the moment I own a very inexpensive model which has just two settings–cook and warm. It’s ever so easy to use, and I haven’t suffered burned rice once since buying it. But I have my eye on the Zojirushi induction rice cooker, which is capable of handling any type of rice imagineable and has a special programme for GABA rice, which is germinated brown rice. Cooking with this programme activates various enzymes and gives the rice a more complete amino acid profile. It’s an easy way to make a dietary staple even healthier.

My next tool is going to have to be a cook’s blowtorch. I made creme brulees for the first time last night, and though they turned out better than I’d hoped, caramelising the demerara sugar under a hot grill wasn’t incredibly effective. Nothing a little practice and the right tool won’t cure, and if I have to eat a few trial brulees, I’ll cope!

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Is your computer a criminal?

This is directly linked to yesterday’s entry about people taking responsibility for their home PCs.

Is Your Computer a Criminal – from MSNBC.com

It’s a bit ironic, considering the source, but good info from any source beats no info.

People, take responsibility!

This, from today’s news, is truly frightening:

“Fewer than half of the UK’s 29m adult internet users believe they are responsible for protecting personal information online, a survey suggests.”

It takes minutes to protect yourself from online fraud. Install a good anti-virus package. Check for updates every single day. Install adware and spyware detection/prevention packages. And EDUCATE YOURSELF about phishing scams. It’s not that difficult, honest!

Poor puppy!

This is what happens when you have two freakishly bouncy puppies and two adults hepped up on caffeine playing in one small kitchen. Poor little mite somehow lost most of a toenail. One emergency vet visit later, the little guy was hobbling around, playing it up for sympathy like a pro.

The importance of flowers

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.
- Basho

Tommy Emmanuel

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Tommy Emmanuel, fingerstyle guitarist, play live in Haverhill, Suffolk, to a sold-out crowd.  This was my first concert of this type; as a matter of fact, it was my first concert in over a decade.  The performance was phenomenal.  I don’t know what I expected, but Tommy is a very charismatic performer, and two hours seemed more like a matter of minutes.  I left with a much greater appreciation for the acoustic guitar as well as Tommy’s abilities as an entertainer!
I was also impressed by his starting act, Gareth Pearson, who at 18 has played for just four years but has enormous potential.

Honesty

The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty.
- Abu Bakr

10,000

Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.

If your mind isn’t clouded
by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.
- Wu Men

On Friendship

Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.

- Georgia O’Keefe